The Brooklyn Nets made one of the more surprising decisions by any team heading into the trade deadline for the 2025-26 NBA season as they decided to waive guard Cam Thomas. Brooklyn made the decision to let Thomas go into free-agency after reportedly trying to trade Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a potential deal that could have brought back guard Lonzo Ball.
Heading into the trade deadline, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported that Thomas was drawing trade interest from the Cavaliers and Milwaukee Bucks, implying that an impending trade could have been on the horizon. However, after the deadline passed, the Nets listed Thomas as out for their matchup at the Orlando Magic due to personal reasons before people reported that Thomas was waived.
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The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reported that the Nets were unable to find a “suitable” offer for Thomas, but there hasn’t been any indication of what interested teams offered in exchange for him. Ultimately, Thomas cleared waivers and ended up signing with the Bucks with him later saying that he picked Milwaukee because they “wanted him for years” and that he’s “happy that everybody is embracing me,” among other things.
While Thomas was having a solid season for the Nets with averages of 15.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game on .399/.325/.843 shooting splits, it became clear that there was a disconnect between Thomas and the rest of the team. Thomas began this year as one of the starters, but after missing 20 games due to a left hamstring strain, he came off the bench as head coach Jordi Fernandez was trying to give more playing time to the younger players like guard Egor Demin.
After returning to the lineup following his 20-game absence, Thomas’ numbers took a turn for the worse as he averaged just 10.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 35.3% from the floor and 27.8% from three-point range. In the 13 games Thomas played for the Nets upon returning from his injury, he shot better than 42.9% from the floor in just two of those games, potentially indicating that the new role wasn’t working.
Thomas, who has only had good things to say about his teammates and the organization while he was with the Nets, seems to be happier since landing in Milwaukee and it looks like he could have a better chance of improving his stock prior to his impending free-agency. In his three games for the Bucks prior to the All-Star Break, Thomas is averaging 16.7 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 47.4% from the field and 38.5% from deep.
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In just his second game with the Bucks, who are looking for production outside of Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr., Thomas scored 34 points in just 25 minutes off the bench, once again reminding fans of his ability to get hot scoring the basketball. Thomas has even made an impression on head coach Doc Rivers, one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, who compared him to super-scoring sixth men in Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams.
Ultimately, the relationship between Thomas and the Nets effectively ended when he accepted his $6 million qualifying offer (QO) coming into this season, but Brooklyn was likely hoping that Thomas would be willing to accept his new role. The Nets weren’t able to get anything for Thomas in the trade market, but they allowed him the chance to make himself the most money possible and it seems like everyone in Brooklyn’s organization is hoping that he can find his way wherever his career takes him.
This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Did the Nets make the right decision waiving Bucks’ Cam Thomas?
